INTRODUCTION

Over the past years, rising concerns regarding industrial agricultural practices and food security have turned the public interest to new, alternative, local, and more sustainable agricultural practices into an imperative need, not only in Greece but internationally. Agroforestry systems present significant advantages in terms of products, food security, and employment prospects, in relation to intensive agriculture and animal husbandry.

The products of agroforestry consist of agricultural, forestry, livestock and non woody forest products

Due to their combined nature, these systems are characterized as multifunctional because they significantly enhance productivity, initially through the co-production of various edible and non-edible products. Furthermore, one cannot overlook their contribution to ecosystem services (provisioning, supportive, regulatory or cultural). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recognizes agroforestry systems as a means of producing diverse products for the food and energy sufficiency of citizens in both developed and developing countries without discrimination.

1. PRODUCTS

Through agroforestry systems, producers are able to earn an income from the production of a wide range of conventional and special products, while at the same time protecting and conserving natural resources such as soil and water. Agroforestry products can be foodstuffs such as conventionally grown vegetables and fruits, mushrooms, and other non-wood forest products (NWFP) such as medicinal plants, nuts, and resins. They can also include wood products such as marketable timber, but also livestock products such as meat, and dairy products from sheep, cattle, pigs, and goats (Chamberlain et al., 2020).

Moreno et al. (2016a) specify the high nutritional value, but also the willingness of consumers to spend more money on high-quality products with a more positive ecological footprint, such as products produced in agroforestry systems.

It is important not to overlook the high cultural value of the relevant traditional knowledge and the potential for tourism exploitation and local recreation in agroforestry systems. Fagerholm et al. (2016) report that 58% of the places visited by tourists in a rural area with large areas of dehesas in Western Spain were related to the provision of cultural services. In Sardinia, “agriturismi” events are often based on forest-pasture areas that combine multifunctional agriculture with tourist hospitality (Moreno et al., 2016).